On a grim note

THE sight of people being forced from their houses is one that is horribly reminiscent of the dark days that precipitated the start of the Troubles.

Women, children and men emasculated by fear have been forced from their homes in Belfast yet again.

This time it was Romanian families forced to flee intimidation and violence.

Now correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that this was 2009, not 1939.

Everyone with an ounce of intelligence has condemned such thuggery. Its easy to condemn, we have at least 30 years solid practice. And like the Apprentice Boys of Derry, we should have graduated by now.

So who was behind this? Morons? Neo-nazis? Thugs? Or you and me?

Having wasted their own lives and opportunities they seem determined to destroy other people’s lives out of spite.

The result? Many possible new comers to Northern Ireland will pass on by and those already here will leave for pastures new.

Every 11^th November, we remember the millions who gave their lives in the fight against oppression, intimidation, and racism. Many nations around the world continue in their struggles against dictators and ethnic cleansing.

We can not let mindless fascist idiots set our agenda. We must have a shared future that embraces religion and race. I could rhyme off the poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller but instead another apt quote comes to mind. Edmund Burke wrote ‘When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." Essentially ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing’